Doh! Of course...I had changed the LFS server IP in the hosts file for a previous version of LFS.

Now that you reminded me, I removed the entry and it's now working. Thanks!

Every time I attempt to play multiplayer, it shows me the "Connecting to Master Server" message for a few seconds and just fails. I've disabled my software firewall, checked my Internet connection and everything, but it refuses to work. It's been like this for weeks. I've connected my computer directly to my DSL modem and used Windows XP's built-in PPPOE driver to see if my router was the culprit, but I still couldn't connect. ...help?

I agree, being able to race on real existing tracks would be fantastic. I realize that they probably charge and arm and a leg for their BS licensing schemes, so that's why I think elwood's suggestion makes sense. What might be better is just to name the country/state/etc where it's located (I don't think they can sue you for naming a country )

Eg.:
Britain = Silverstone
California = Laguna Seca
Canada = Montreal
Netherlands/Holland = Zandvoort
Germany = Nurburgring Nordschleife
Germany F1 = Nurbugring

...and so on and so forth.

The video card didn't quite work properly, so I've returned it for a refund. I did play a bit of LFS with it, though, and the frame rates are "OK". I think I'll get a 9600XT, instead.

I tried doing an entire re-install of XP and still had the same problems!

So, I just received the ATi Radeon 9200 (AGP) that I bought on eBay, and I've been having a few driver-related problems with it.

This is my setup


1. Make backup image of system partition (OS and apps)

2. Uninstall old VGA card drivers, shut down, change BIOS settings, unplug everything, open up case, install AGP card, put everything back together, plug in, start up.

3. I first attempted to install the latest drivers from ATi, but they just fail with a useless, non-descriptive "INF Error". I downloaded it a second to be sure that the first driver file wasn't somehow corrupted. It failed the second time.

4. Then, I attmpted to install the drivers from the included CD, but...the disc is corrupt! I did managed to install it by finding online, the one file that appeared to be corrupted, and I also got the driver installed, but the CRT was blurry (like looking at a monitor through someone else's glasses) and, after rebooting, the display failed completely. I tried copyring the files off the CD several times on multiple computers, and it failed every time at different points during the copy operation, so there were very likely other files from the CD that were corrupt.

5. Restored backup image (couldn't uninstall old driver because Windows ignores it if the corresponding hardware doesn't exist)

6. Installed latest compatible Omega drivers for my card. Yay, it installed, but I'm still having problems.

I cannot change the refresh rate for the CRT (secondary video) above 60Hz when I use 1152x864. I can select "85Hz", or whatever other options there are, but the refresh rate won't actually change. The screen will go black for a second, as per normal, but the refresh rate won't change. I know this because I can physically see the difference between 60Hz and 85Hz and because my monitor's OSD tells me the refresh rate that it's actually receiving. The monitor is capable of displaying at this capacity because 1152x864@85Hz is the exact configuration I used for this monitor before I installed this new card.

Whoop! OK, I fiddled around with the settings (chose a lower resolution with a higher refresh rate, which works, then I worked my way up through the resolutions, colour depths, and refresh rates) and suddenly 1152x864@85 works now...but it's all blurry again

I've tested the DVI-VGA adapter on another computer, and the display through it is perfectly clear.

I don't know what else to do

Last edited by epp_b, Thu, 18 Jan 2007 05:39.

I'm going to go for the 9200 because it's cheaper and...well, I'm cheap

Thanks again.

Thanks all for the responses, they've been very helpful.

Can a 350w PSU run a 256MB ATi 9600XT? Alternatively, would a 128MB ATi 9200 run LFS alright? I don't care if I get around, say, 30fps...anything's better than this

Quote :

What's the rest of your system like?

I think the rest of my system is all good: Sempron 2800+, 1GB RAM, 80GB 7200RPM HDD, RealTek integrated audio (it's actually a really good card). It's actually pretty close specs to my parents' machine, which has a ATi Radeon 9600 (Sapphire knock-off branded), and LFS runs anywhere from 50 to 90 fps on their box.

I'm guessing now, but I think my video card's bottle-neck is probably the RAM access. It uses system RAM, so it's got to go all the way across the motherboard rather than just access RAM on the card.

Quote :

Keep in mind that especially playing in offline mode with AI cars the speed of your CPU will be more important because it has to process complex physics calculations for all the other cars.

Yeah, playing with AI is pretty bad. It drops down to 5 fps. That's not even playable. Playing online is even worse. So a 1.6 GHz Sempron chip is insufficient?

If I'm going to have to upgrade my CPU yet, too, then it's just not worth it; it's better to wait until I have to perform my next major upgrade (ie.: new PC).

Last edited by epp_b, Sun, 7 Jan 2007 19:25.

I'm looking for a decent video card that will be able to play LFS properly. My current setup is an integrated S3 card that really quite sucks I can just barely play LFS properly in offline mode (I get anywhere from 8 to 25 fps, but it usually hovers around 13). It's not even playable online.

I'm trying to keep the price under $50, so I certainly don't expect something that's top-of-the-line. Also, which do I need to pay more attention to, core clock frequency or VRAM frequency?

For example, I'm looking at an ATi Radeon 9200; 250MHz core, 400MHz VRAM. Would that be 'adequate' or 'more-than-enough' for this game?

Quote :

V version is the newest, but the cars DO sound different

Admittedly, I did notice that I can hear the turbocharger on the XR GT Turbo.

Quote :

You won't run out of unlocks unless you are reinstalling windows on a weekly basis, even if you do you either wait until the next month to get another, or email support.

Well, I have a rather "unorthodox" way of making system backups, but it works very well: I copy the partitions from one hard drive to an identical drive, then put the "target" drive in my PC and the original back on the shelf. This way of backing up has been known to trip the same flags in some software that would happen from an OS re-installation. I do this backup process every two-to-three weeks.

However, from what I understand, you're saying that even if I do trip the "unlocked" flag from a backup or some other system change, I can always receive a new unlock key the next month or otherwise receive one from direct technical support. Is that correct?

Quote :

To unlock, you load up the demo, hit the button and bash in your account name and password. It connects to verify and then thats it, you can play without unlocking until your next rebuild.

Is it somehow tied to the hardware or software configuration of the PC on which the game is installed?

Quote :

The car sounds differ between cars, and have recently been updated in a patch (not sure if you knew about it).

I downloaded the game pretty recently; in the last couple of days. I have LFS S2 Version V (demo).

EDIT: Holy cow! There's some great community support here, most of my questions in this reply are probably answered already

EDIT 2:

Quote :

When you've used up your unlocks for a particular month, the next month you will receive new unlocks up to two max.

Oh! So, you're saying that I'm not limited to five overall locks, but that I can receive up to two additional unlocks per month if I run into a sticky situation with my PC?

Quote :

1. As far as I remember: You can change the hardware as much as you like. LFS doesn't check wether it's still running on the same hardware it was unlocked on. I didn't even need to unlock again after I build a new computer, because the hard disc with LFS on it was untouched. (Which was the only device that was taken to the new system)
That was a while ago though. So don't sue me if it's wrong.
2. You get new unlocks each month. That's really sufficient for everyone, considering that the unlock stays with you forever until you delete the LFS-folder.

So, theoretically, once "unlocked", I could carry the LFS directory over to a new installation and it would continue to run unlocked?

Quote :

Though I personally recommend fine-tuning the sounds with a software-equalizer.

My sound card includes a driver-level equalizer, so I can change the EQ for any sound the comes out of the speakers, and from any source


Again, great community response here, thanks for all the helpful replies!

Last edited by epp_b, Thu, 4 Jan 2007 19:08.

Hello,

I recently downloaded the LFS demo and I'm very impressed. The level of realism is quite good! I also really like how the application is developed from a technical standpoint. No installation, no (obvious) registry entires -- it's just a bunch of self-contained, stand-alone files. It's one of those gems that really defines how software should be

Anyway, I'm curious about the technical details of the registration process. For example, after reading this on the introduction page...

Quote :

When you first buy a license you may unlock the game up to three times. This allows you to unlock on two computers and keep one spare unlock. After that, you will receive another spare unlock each month, up to a maximum of two, so that if you re-install Windows or upgrade your computer, you can always unlock Live for Speed again.

...the way I understand this is as so: I get 3 unlocks to start when I initially purchase a license. If I use up these unlocks (say, my Windows installation gets borked from spyware, I upgrade my OS, I buy a new PC, etc.), I can get only two more spare unlocks per month. But what of after that? Am I just left out in the cold? I'd be pretty disappointed to find out that I'm out $55 CAD (about equivalent to £24) just because of a few upgrades.

So...

• Is the registration in any way tied to hardware or software configurations?
  
• I regularly change my PC configuration and limited unlocks could be a problem. What happens after five unlocks?
  
• Does LFS "validate" itself every time it connects online or is unlocking a "one-time" process?
  

Believe me, I think that LFS is worth every penny (or pence, I suppose ), but I'm not sure it would be worth the potential trouble I may have with the registration being restricted in the way it is.


Oh, and an unrelated question: do different cars have different engine sounds in the unlocked S2? I've noticed the three cars available in the demo all sound pretty much the same. I just like to have a bit of variety